Ukraine’s president orders to file lawsuit against Russia over Kerch Bridge

Date of publication: 29 09 2017, 18:50

President Pyotr Poroshenko of Ukraine issued an instruction on Friday to file a lawsuit against Russia over the alleged ecological damage caused by construction of the Kerch Bridge, which will link Crimea and mainland Russia across a strait connecting the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, the presidential press secretary Svyatoslav Tsegolko said on Twitter.

“The president issued an instruction to file a lawsuit against Russia over the ecological damage inflicted by the Kerch Bridge,” he wrote without going into details on what specifically Poroshenko had required.

Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Yuri Lavrenyuk said Kiev was pondering a lawsuit against the restriction on navigation in the Kerch Strait ostensibly imposed by Russia.

Russia launched construction of the 19 km long Kerch Bridge in February 2016. The builders have already installed arch spans, which are the largest structural elements of the bridge.

The Russian Transport Ministry has said on a number of occasions the restriction on navigation would be minimal and would not have any considerable impact on the passage of ship via the Kerch Strait.